News that Phillip Schofield, long standing co-host of ITV’s popular daytime show This Morning, has stepped down dominates Sunday’s tabloids. The Sunday Mirror’s headline says “it’s all sofa” for the embattled presenter.
The Sunday People writes that Phillip Schofield resigned after “crunch talks” with ITV bosses who told him “it was time to go”. The paper quotes him saying he wanted to “protect the show” – explaining that the presenter quit after a rift with fellow host Holly Willoughby.
The showbiz world is “delighted” after Phillip Schofield’s resignation writes the Daily Star. The paper writes that a “happy” Holly Willoughby is now left as the ruler of the “Morning Tellybox”.
The Mail on Sunday says that Home Secretary Suella Braverman has been accused of attempting a “cover-up” after she was caught speeding. Civil Servants were asked to help Mrs Braverman “avoid being seen online at a speed awareness course”, the Mail says. A government source has denied Mrs Braverman broke the ministerial code over the incident, which was first reported in the Sunday Times.
The Sunday Telegraph says the government’s migration tsar has backed plans to limit foreign graduate visas, amid suggestions the two-year permits could create a back door for graduates to remain in the UK, employed in low skilled work. However, the Telegraph reports the prime minister and chancellor are said to be resisting calls to scale back the visas.
The Observer says a top Tory donor who has given more than £220,000 to the party is facing an investigation over allegations of “fraud and money laundering”. The paper reports that Karan Chanana is facing a probe in India surrounding claims that tens of millions of pounds of bank loans were sent to shell entities.
Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch is on a Brexit trade mission potentially worth £1tn, says the Sunday Express. She has taken on “Brexit doomsters”, reports the paper which quotes her as saying a deal with six Gulf states could “bring in billions” of pounds of investment into the UK.
The Sunday Telegraph has been speaking to the government’s migration tsar, who says ministers should reduce the number of foreign students who are allowed to stay in the UK after they graduate. Professor Brian Bell tells the paper that their visas could offer what he calls a “backdoor route” for people looking for low-skilled work.
There is growing diplomatic tension between Washington and London over plans to hand over some of the British Indian Ocean Territory to Mauritius, according to the Mail on Sunday.
At issue, says the paper, is the island of Diego Garcia, which contains a military airfield that has been leased to the US and is dubbed the “unsinkable aircraft carrier of the Indian Ocean“. The Mail has spoken to sources who are concerned that China could use its close relationship with Mauritius to try to take over the facility.
The Conservative Mayor of the West Midlands, Andy Street, has told the Sunday Times that the prime minister must drop what he called his “dogmatic” opposition to building houses on the green belt. He says that the party must show young people that it can produce the homes that they need. Rishi Sunak says he is committed to delivering for communities.
The Observer reports a major donor to the Tory party is under investigation over allegations of fraud and money laundering. The paper says Indian authorities are examining suggestions that Karan Chanana diverted tens of millions of pounds worth of bank loans into shell companies.
He has given more than £220,000 to the Tories. Mr Chanana has not commented on the allegations. The Conservatives say they only accept donations from permissible sources.
Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch has told the Sunday Express that the government can make Brexit a “roaring success”. She says that ministers are working to seize all the new opportunities presented by leaving the European Union.
But according to the Sunday Times chief political commentator, Tim Shipman, some Conservatives are “furious” about the government’s decision to water down plans to discard more than 8,000 EU laws.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is to set out “serious, deep and long-term changes” to the NHS, according to the Sunday Mirror. It says he will use a speech on Monday to announce plans to reduce the number of deaths from heart disease and strokes by encouraging early intervention and increasing staffing levels.
The Sunday Times covers a study that has found older people are better at dieting than the young. The paper quotes from one of the researchers, who says that baby boomers have more of a “blitz spirit” about their weight – making them more self-reliant about how they manage it.
Image source, Getty Images
Schofield began presenting This Morning in 2002, with Willoughby joining him as a co-presenter in 2009
The Sunday Mirror adapts a famous line of commentary about the 1966 World Cup final to sum up Phillip Schofield’s resignation from This Morning with the headline “They think it’s all sofa… It is now!”.
Insiders at the programme have told the Sun on Sunday of a “toxic” and “unworkable” atmosphere behind the scenes. The Sunday People said ITV had had their “Phil” of the presenter.
